Prince William flies to the rescue of stranded sailors amid gale force winds

November 28, 2011 by hellomagazine.comThe action man royal was called out after dramatic 2am mayday call

The Duke of Cambridge has taken part in a rescue mission to save Russian sailors after their cargo ship sank in the choppy waters of the Irish Sea.

Flight Lieutenant Wales – Prince William's name in the Royal Air Force – co-piloted the search and rescue helicopter that plucked two crew members from the water.

Unfortunately, the drama claimed one man's life and another five sailors are still missing after William and his crew failed to locate them in the force eight gale.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR FULL GALLERY

The future King was called into action during the early hours of Sunday morning after the Swanland, a massive vessel loaded with 3,000 tonnes of limestone was buffeted by high winds.

William was on the mission, which lasted into the following day, for several hours.

On Sunday, another search and rescue chopper – not thought to have the Prince at the controls – left the RAF base to continue the search for the five men who remained stranded at sea.

Ray Carson, who is watch manager at Holyhead Coastguard, said the tragedy was the result of unsettled waters.

He said one of the rescued men described the ship being "hit by an enormous wave".

"It rolled the ship and broke its back. (The survivor) said this led to a catastrophic failure of the vessel."
William's role in the rescue operation earned him a letter of thanks from the Russian ambassador.

Newsletter

Latest comments

Please note, all comments are those of readers and do not represent the opinion of Hellomagazine.com
Hellomagazine.com reserves the right to remove comments it considers offensive or not relevant
Please focus on the topic